when I was little my uncle told me he was part bear. I believed people could be part bear until I was twelve.

Audrey

When I was 7 or 8 I was too lazy to change my clothes everyday and so one day my mom told me that if I wore the same clothes for more than one day they would get stuck on me and the only way I could get them off was with surgery. I still cant wear the same outfit for over a day

mary-ann

Like many children are told, I thought that if you made a face for too long your face would freeze like that.

One night, I went to my parents crying as I was afraid to go to sleep because I thought if I fell asleep, I'd close my mouth and it would stick like that and I'd suffocate.

Ohio...

When I was very young I asked my father what "mulatto" meant. He explained it was when a mixed racial couple had a child and the child turned out poka-dotted. For years I scanned crowds hoping to find a kid with spots, imagining them to look somewhat like a Jersey cow.

Debbie

When Dame Edna Everage once said in a talkshow that he was born with purple hair, I thought she was serious, and I have proclaimed this believe at parties for years!

Sietse Logger

I used to think only boys could have short hair. The first day of first grade I saw this kid with short hair going in the girl's bathroom and said 'hey, you can't go in there' thinking it was a boy. I felt DUMB. Of course it was a girl, and weird thing is, she ended up becoming my first best friend.

Angry Sar

I'm not sure how old I was but when I was pretty little my sister showed me a joke where you push your hands up against your face and say something like "Hi! I'm chubby. My whole family's chubby..." and some other things but I loved the damn joke so much I went around saying it for the rest of the week until my dad said that if I did that to my face anymore then it would stick like that!! And I believed him for a long time.

Sam

My parents are really liberal and always taught me that racism was bad and everything like that.

Unfortunately it had the consequence that I was really frightened of talking to non-white people until I was about 9 or 10, because I was scared I'd say something that could make me seem racist.

Also, I never used the word 'black' to describe somebody. Like there'd be an actor on TV and I'd be like "What else has the tall guy with the dark hair been in?" because I didn't want to seem racist by calling him black.

AMT

I used to believe that if a girl thought that you were a boy and you weren't, you would automatically become a boy, because 'girls knew everything'.

One messed up little girl

I used to believe that every kid with a loop of hair at the back of his head was named Luke. Who knows why...

Gabrielle

i was always told if i pulled a face and the wind changed id always stay that way! it scared the life out of me i didnt pull any faces again!

Anon

i used to beleive that everyone in the world had an exact copy of themselfs and someday we were meant to reunite.hmm boy i have i changed!!!

elmo

In my elementary school, there were two kids with Down syndrome. I didn't really understand what was up with them because no one would talk about it - I only knew that they looked funny, in sort of the same way, so I assumed they were related.
When I found out the truth I felt like I'd committed some terrible crime, and every time I come across someone with Down syndrome, I'm a little afraid they'll be mad at me for it.

Jenna

When I was about 4 or 5 my family was driving thru downtown Chicago. I saw probably my first African-American person and thought they were Chocolate People!

jmr

when i was little, i used to make faces, especially the one where you put your fingers in your cheeks and pull so you have a horizontally oblong-ish mouth. my mom told me that if the wind blew the wrong way, my face would stay like that forever.

Anon

I used to think people with bum chins ate children

Rev